Herteis returns to council to fill Woolwich vacancy

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP — Woolwich Township council has selected former councillor Julie-Anne Herteis to fill a seat made vacant earlier this year.

The decision was made during a special council meeting on Tuesday, where 10 candidates for the position had five minutes each to make their pitch. Each candidate had earlier also provided council with an application.

Among the candidates was Dan Holt, a runner-up for Elmira in the 2014 election, and an environmental advocate and retired professor.

Herteis was a former councillor during the 2010-2014 term.

She beat Holt by one vote.

Mayor Sandy Shantz and Couns. Murray Martin and Larry Shantz voted for Herteis; while Couns. Patrick Merlihan and Mark Bauman supported Holt.

With a municipal election in November, and council having just a few meetings left until they break for summer in July, Shantz said she thought Herteis was the best option.

She was the only candidate who had previously served on council.

“Being that Julie-Anne had applied and she had been on council before, to me it just made sense to have her there for that period,” said Mayor Shantz. “She could get up to speed quicker than anyone.”

The vacancy was created when Coun. Scott Hahn said responsibilities at work required he resign from his seat.

While the mayor would have preferred council leave the seat vacant until the election, legislation requires the vacancy be filled. Council had a couple of options in this regard, including holding a byelection, appointing a candidate, or opening the process to applicants and holding a council vote.

A byelection “seemed unnecessary and expensive,” given the short time frame to the election, said Shantz, adding that council opted to go with the latter option.

“We thought that was more fair,” she said.

If the vacancy had occurred earlier in the term, Shantz believes it would have been dealt with differently by council.

“It’s such a short period of time (to the municipal election),” she said. “I think what we did was very democratic. We let people step up and we did what we were supposed to do, we made a choice.”